033884 


XLhc 

Battle of Belmont 

November 7th, 1861. 


KANSAS COMMANDERY 

OF THE 

Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
of the United States. 


WAR PAPE.R No. 22. 


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Class £ ^2. 



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THE 


BATTLE OF BELMONT, 


November 7, 1861. 



Prepared and Read before the Kansas Commandery 
of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
of the United States. 


-BY- 

Gompanion JOHN SEATON. 

Captain 22d Illinois Infantry. 




• 2 .* 








5 Mr '02 


The Battle of Belmont. 


Read before Kansas Commandery, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of 
the United States, January 2, 19J2, by .Companion John Seaton, Captain .22d 
Illinois Infantry. 

On the 6th day of November, 1861, the camps at Cairo, 
Illinois, Fort Holt, Kentucky, and Bird’s Point, Missouri, 
began to show more of the spirit of military action than had 
been the custom hitherto. For months the main duty had 
been to drill, build breastworks, and occasionally venture 
forth in small bodies of cavalry and infantry to reconnoitre 
in Missouri and Kentucky towards the Confederacy’s front at 
Columbus, Kentucky; these parties separately marching on 
each side of the Mississippi River. 

It was evident that these excursions w r ere indulged in by 
the commandants of the camps at Fort Holt and Bird’s 
Point, more for the purpose of familiarizing the soldiers with 
the sensation of being in “the enemy’s country,” where dan¬ 
ger was supposed to lurk behind every bush. These soldiers 
were sometimes enlivened by stern alarms of w r ar growing 
out of the fact that the rebels were engaged in sending out 
similar excursions; and thus conflicts of small moment would 
occur, resulting in some one or more of either side being 
wounded. Then would ensue a lively chase, the party break¬ 
ing first being hotly pursued by the other for perhaps a 
mile or two, when discretion would become the better part 
of valor, and the commanding officer of the squad, calling 
off the dogs of w.ar, order a return to camp. There, around 
the camp-fires, the valiant heroes of the occasion would re¬ 
count the exciting events of the day, sufficiently blood-curd¬ 
ling to the “tenderfoot” soldier boys who had not yet taken 
part in such divertisement. 

Also now and then a gunboat would paddle down the 

-3- 


river to within shooting distance of the advanced posts of the 
rebel fortifications at Columbus, and all day long keep up 
with them an artillery duel. We could distinctly hear the 
cannon's peal at our camp, some twenty miles away, and our 
boys, listening to its ominous note, would remark, “Hark! 
from the tomb a doleful sound." 

These occurrences had become common by long repeti¬ 
tion and a spirit of unrest prevailed in the camp. The sol¬ 
diers, burning with a valor as yet untried, impatiently be¬ 
wailed the situation, and indulged in wild and vigorous crit¬ 
icisms of the conduct of the war, foolishly threatening to de¬ 
sert if something were not soon done to bring on the issue ! 
These were but the vaporings of ignorant amateurs in the 
science of war. 

Once in a while a rebel dispatch-boat, flying a flag of 
truce, would round the bend with bow pointed toward Cairo. 
Immediately a “Long Tom" on the fortifications of Cairo 
would belch a command to halt; sending a cannon-ball 
ricochetting on the water across the bow of the intruder. 
Then all the idle soldiers in the three camps would scamper 
to the banks of the river, and line up in wild expectancy. 
Out from Cairo's wharf would dart a small tub, also bearing 
a flag of truce, proceeding to where the rebel boat waited, 
its uneasy wheels keeping up sufficient motion to prevent 
a backward drift down stream. An interview, lasting from 
fifteen minutes to perhaps an hour, would take place, and 
possibly the little tug would steam back to impart informa¬ 
tion to General Grant or to obtain additional authority to 
enable it to deal with the question at issue; retracing its way 
to the waiting flag oi truce, where another parley would en¬ 
sue, after which the two would separate, each returning to 
its respective place of duty. In the minds of our boys, watch¬ 
ing the dumb-play from the banks, many speculative theo¬ 
ries would evolve, relating to the probable significance and 
possible results of the conference; but, needless to relate, we 
remained unenlightend. 

Having thus outlined the situation, with its monotony 

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and its small excitements, previous to the date of November 
6th, with which this paper starts, 1 will proceed with the 
events connected with the Battle of Belmont, which was the 
first wedge driven by Gen. Grant in the great internecine 
strife of our nation. 

On the day mentioned an order was sent by General 
Grant for certain of the regiments at Bird's Point to pre¬ 
pare all men not on guard duty or otherwise engaged for 
action; each man to be equipped with a certain number of 
rounds of ammunition and one day's cooked rations. All 
were to be in readiness to board certain steamboats, which 
were to be sent for them. 

Those recen ing the orders to move commenced packing 
without delay. Knapsacks were made ready amid loud huz¬ 
zas and many sounds of joy, for at last the long weariness 
of camp life was to be broken, and war, actual war, partici¬ 
pated in. Everything was in readiness when, in the middle 
of the afternoon, the Belle Memphis and two other steamers 
arrived at the camp. All were large boats, but the names 
of the others and of the two or three additional ones loaded 
at Cairo, have escaped my memory. My regiment was the 
22d Illinois Volunteer Infantry. 

One company of cavalry, also one section of light artil¬ 
lery, boarded the Belle Memphis; the 27th Illinois, with the 
7th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, went aboard the other boats. 
AVe proceeded over to Cairo at sundown. The boats there 
had been likewise loaded with troops, among them being 
Col. John A. Logan with his regiment. Mv memory is in 
default as to the names of other regiments in the flotilla. 

Gen. Grant made our boat, the Belle .1 fentphis, his flag¬ 
ship. The Fort Holt soldiers were not taken aboard the 
steamers, but had orders to march that night a certain dis¬ 
tance toward Columbus. 

As soon as night settled down, the flotilla, with two gun¬ 
boats, started down the river. Tip to that time we had not 
known whether we were going up the Ohio, or up or down 

the Mississippi. I think about twelve miles were covered 

- 5 - 


before we tied up for the night at the site of old Fort Jeffer¬ 
son on the Kentucky side. My impression is that it was at 
that point that the Fort Holt troops bivouacked for the 
night. 

Well do I remember that night! The animated scene on 
the boat, where the boys were jubilant at the thought that 
we were going, as was supposed, to attack Columbus. I 
mingled with my company on the upper deck, directing them 
how to bivouack on the same in as good order as possible— 
sleep upon their arms, as it w'ere, to be ready for any emer¬ 
gency. Upon going down into the cabin after attending to 
these matters, 1 found the officers of the command separated' 
into various assemblages engaged in discussing the mission 
upon which we were bent, all being of the opinion that its 
object was the capture of Columhus. One small party, sit¬ 
ting around a table in the ladies’ cabin, was notable, as seen 
in the light of events which had not then happened. It con¬ 
sisted of General Grant and some of his staff. An orderly 
stood at the dividing line which separated the ladies’ cabin 
from the main or gentlemen’s cabin. The picture was an 
interesting one. The glittering chandeliers cast their beams 
upon themanwho, little suspected, wastobethe hero of the 
war; destined to command the armies of this great nation, 
win more battles than all the other commanders, and become 
the most noted warrior of the nineteenth century; destined 
a iso to become president of our country for eight years, thus 
rounding out a. remarkable career among the rulers of the 
world. 

Finally the assemblage melted away, each officer hying 
himself to his couch to snatch a brief repose before the ex¬ 
pected hour when grim Death, in most tempestuous mood, 
would come stalking among the armies of the blue and the 
gray. 

It was felt by all that a crucial test was near, and while 
cheerfulness reigned with officers and men, it was yet felt 
that sorrow lurked near, and there was yearning for the 
loved ones at home who would perhaps on the morrow be 


left desolate. None could divine the will of Providence, 
nor could any claim exemption from its decrees. 

Just as the faint streaks of dawn ushered in the day of 
November 7th we were aroused and the several boats be¬ 
gan to move cautiously and slowly down the river, preceded 
by the gunboats. We all ate our breakfast from the one 
day’s cooked rations in our haversacks. When within five or 
six miles of Columbus, the sun was rising, and the rebels, 
having caught sight of our smoke, began cannonading over 
the woodland in our direction. We were made to land on the 
Missouri side and our gunboats dropped down in sight of the 
rebel batteries and commenced hostilities. Our supposition 
was that we had only been landed where we were until, at 
the proper time, we should be taken to the Kentucky side 
to storm the rebel heights. But finally our orders came to 
march ashore. The command was drawn up in line on the 
river bank at the edge of a corn-field. Here we remained 
while General Grant made a disposition of troops to guard 
the steamboats. 

I might here say that the command leaving Cairo was 
2,850 men. There were regiments enough to indicate a much 
larger force, but it must be remembered that the order call¬ 
ing for them did not interfere with those who were on guard 
duty or other service in camp; hence, the men ready for im¬ 
mediate marching orders did not comprise all of the men 
who were able for duty. Here a regiment would have, saf 
300, another 400; and the largest number was 500, which 
was the 22d Illinois—350 of the men of the command com¬ 
prised the number which was left behind on the duty of 
guarding the boats: therefore we had 2,500 men to take 
into the fight. 

The delay incident to making the disposition of the boat 
guard in a strategic position, to secure the best service in 
case the boats were attacked, brought the hour of the day 
to about 7:30 a. m. During the time we were awaiting final 
orders, the gunboats had dropped further down to within 
sight of the Columbus fortifications and were passing the 

-7- 


time in active hostilities with the rebel batteries. Occasion- 
-ally the rebels tried to find our steamboats with their 128- 
pound shells, all of which passed over us, causing a general 
ducking of heads. Those larger shells would bury them¬ 
selves in the ground some 300 or 400 yards beyond our 
right. 1 remember one that entered the river bank whose 
face at that time was, say, 25 or 30 feet above the water level, 
and the last of it I saw just before marching, when some 
three or four deck-hands of our boat were digging it out 
with shovels. I saw the same shell in Cairo the following 
day. These large shells were defective and did not explode. 

After the disposal of the men was completed to the sat¬ 
isfaction of General Grant, he came riding up the river road 
to our regiment, which was on the extreme right. Our col¬ 
onel, Dougherty, had been assigned by him to command a 
brigade, thus leaving us under the command of our lieu¬ 
tenant-colonel, Hart. Hart was sitting on his horse about 
ten paces from where I was standing in line with my com¬ 
pany. The General addressed him: “Colonel, advance your 
♦company of skirmishers.” I had perfected my company in 
the skirmish drill and was the only captain who had paid 
:anv attention to it. Colonel Hart, glancing at me, nodded 
ihis head and said, “Captain, advance your company as skir- 
imishers.” 1 saluted and said, “Colonel, shall I deploy by sec¬ 
tion, platoon or company?” The General immediately said, 
'“Colonel, give the Captain another company for reserve/*' 
and at once addressed me, “Deploy your whole company. 
Captain, to develop the line of the enemy.” I saluted and 
at once gave my company order to form in four ranks, and 
file left, which took us through the corn-field and into the 
woods, followed by Company C, which the Colonel gave me 
for reserve. 

At first entering the woods I found their border com¬ 
posed of large forest trees and clear of underbush, but pos¬ 
sibly 300 yards distant I saw a thick tanglewood that had the 
appearance of a cane-brake, or a close growth of willows 
similar to what one sees on bottom lands or islands of a 


river, it appeared to be an impenetrable mass, of which 
m} r vision could see no end in either direction so far as was 
discernible through the woods. After marching probably 
about 1000 feet into this wood, I brought both companies in 
line of battle and addressed them thus: “Boys, we are enter¬ 
ing this morning what will prove a pitched battle. Many 
of us have seen the sun rise for the last time and will not 
see it set. I wish to remind you of the fact that Illinois 
troops became famous in the war with Mexico, and that to¬ 
day the eyes of Illinois are upon us and we must not shrink 
from our duty to uphold her honor and preserve the escut¬ 
cheon unsullied. We have most of us during the past few 
months participated in small skirmishing, heard the whistle 
of lead and smelled a little powder, but none of us have ex¬ 
perienced a battle. 1 do not know what the crucial test may 
cause, but I want you to mark what I say—if I should show 
the white feather, shoot me dead in my tracks and my family 
will feel that I died for my country. Boys, it- is now quite 
warm and we are going to have a hot dav ; I propose that all 
of us take off our coats, pile them at the foot of this tree, and 
1 will leave John Baker, who is lame, with them; when we 
come back to the boats we can get them, and if we don’t come 
back we may not want them again.” I stacked arms for a 
minute and each of us did what I had recommended ahd we 
nil rolled up our sleeves; I gave the necessary commands, 
niv company was deployed on the double quick and we com¬ 
menced the march in skirmish line. Only a few minutes, 
and I saw three of my men fall, one whom was dead. We 
entered that labyrinth of wild wood and held and drove by 
fits and starts, and finally the battle was on. The rattle of 
the volleys of musketry was terrific and even grand resound¬ 
ing through the woods. At length I rallied my two com¬ 
panies in close order, and, working our way through to a 
more open woodland, attempted to find mv regiment. It had 
been ordered to the right somewhere, I was told by one of 
the hospital corps whom I met with a wounded man. We 
were marching along by the flank, and coming behind the 

- 9 - 


7th Iowa, which was stubbornly fighting, I, all of a sudden, 
saw them swing back like the opening of a double gate and 
the rebels were wildly charging upon them. 'The 7th Iowa 
Regiment was badly cut to pieces in this charge of the enemy. 
My companies happening to be opposite this opening gap, I 
brought them left face in line of battle, thus filling the gap, 
and made a counter-change on the rebels, who in turn broke 
away. The 7th Iowa rallied and joined my command and re¬ 
mained with us until we had captured the rebel camp, which' 
was then the noon hour. It appeared that in our march 
across the bend we had about three miles to go to get to 
their camp. Upon the alarm being given them early in the 
morning, they had rushed from their camp while the cooks 
were preparing breakfast. For several hours afterwards 
their frying pans, with meat and other preparations for 
breakfast, were found where they had been suddenly aban¬ 
doned, and there is no doubt in my mind but the men were 
rushed to the front without any sustenance whatever. 

The rebel camp was surrounded by some earthworks, re¬ 
inforced by abatis of considerable strength; inside their 
works were several pieces of light artillery, brass guns, six- 
pounders, having an inscription cast on the breech, which 
proclaimed the command to be what had been known in pre¬ 
vious years as the crack New Orleans battery of flying ar¬ 
tillery. The rebel troops were marched out probably two 
and a half miles from their camp to confront us; therefore 
from the time battle opened they opposed us step by step, 
causing us to take four hours to press them to the margin 
of their camp. On reaching their camp, their New Orleans 
battery, which had not been engaged before, began to play. 
Our forces finally made breaches through into their camp, 
charged upon and captured their cannon. The gunners fled 
with the infantry in great confusion, while their speed was 
accelerated by the loads they had just put into their guns 
and left, to be fired at them by our men. 

The regimental band of ours had been detailed early in 
the morning to serve the hospital corps, and they were busy 

- 10 - 


during the battle bearing off the wounded to the field hos¬ 
pital. Greatly to our surprise, we discovered in our moment 
of victory that in some inexplicable manner the members of 
our band had succeeded in keeping their instruments with 
them; for there, on the bank of the river, in defiance of the 
large body of the enemy in plain view on the other side of 
the river, they surrounded our colors and began playing 
“Dixie,” passed from it to the “Star-Spangled Banner,” then 
to Yankee Doodle,” followed by other soul-stirring patriotic 
airs. It is impossible for me to portray that scene. The 
exuberance of spirit was boundless. The Union soldiers 
cavorted and huzzaed, while rounding up a goodly number 
of prisoners; their antics were inspiring and thrilling. I 
myself mounted a captured gun, and had the boys join with 
song in the performance of the band. I remember that the 
inspiration of those moments infused me with a willingness 
to join the angels and march on to glory right then and 
there. 

As I said before, the banks of the Mississippi were high 
above the water and under the shelter of these the rebels 
retreated below our vision. We had at this time probably a 
thousand prisoners,. and had full possession of their camp. 
Many of the tents were standing and a number of piles of 
tents were rolled up, tying on the ground ready for wagons, 
and we afterwards learned that 5,000 rebels were expected 
to start that day to corral Colonel Dick Oglesby, who was 
somewhere near Rolla with three regiments. 

In the jollification over the victory the boys began loot¬ 
ing the tents and found many trinkets of value in the officors , 
baggage. They set fire to most of the tents. While this was 
going on, there across the river, which is very narrow at Col¬ 
umbus, Kentucky, could be seen many thousands of rebel 
troops in line of battle on the hills close up against the 
river. Some of their cannons kept up a shower of shells 
upon us, mostly going wild and hurting some only. About 1 
o’clock a steamboat was seen coming up the river from some 
point below. In turning the bend as it hove in sight it was 

-li- 


seen to be crowded with troops. We allowed it to come 
nearer and nearer, when at the proper time we turned one 
of the New Orleans guns upon her. The first shot hit the 
water and went wild, but the second entered the front of the 
cabin and passed through lengthwise ancf out into the water. 
We were afterward informed that dinner was being served; 
that the ball cleared the table, killing and wounding several. 
Instantly the boat commenced backing, finally succeeding in 
turning around, and traveled away back around the bend. 
Our losses had been heavy through the da<y thus far. We 
had met the ‘’New Orleans Tigers,” the “Texas Eangers,” 
and much of the boastful spirit of the South, which at that 
time maintained that “one Southerner could whip five Yan¬ 
kees.” I asked, on the field, a rebel orderly sergeant about 
that saying, and he replied, “Oh, we don’t mean you West¬ 
erners. We thought this morning, when you were approach¬ 
ing, that we never saw such big men in our lives before. You 
looked like giants /” The rebel authorities had not been idle 
during the time we spent at their camp. Out of the view 
of our gunboats, two of their steamers were at work a mile 
or so above us, busily transferring a number of rebel sol¬ 
diers from Columbus camps to our side of the river, with a 
view of cutting us off. It was always asserted that eleven 
regiments were crossed over, but as to the number, I do not 
know. 

When General Grand ordered a retreat to our boats, we 
had another battle to ge through two lines of troops between 
us and them. It was then possibly 2 o’clock, maybe later, 
and when those of our command who did get through reached 
the river, the sun was setting. When we reached the boats, 

I was with four or five others at the water’s edge, near the 
gang-plank of our boat, when a man a;t the top of the bank 
halloed, “Get aboard the boat; they are coming!” He called 
out to the captain of the boat, “Chop your lines and back 
out.” We looked up and saw it was General Grant. We ran 
across the gang-plank and immediately behind us was the 
General and his horse. The boat was backing out as the 

-12- 


rebels came to the bank of the river shooting volleys at ns, 
and at the pilot of the vessel. Providence guarded the pilot. 
He was not hit, though a number of soldiers were. A gun¬ 
boat was in the channel about 100 feet from us. Its cap¬ 
tain called out and motioned to the men on the lower deck 
at the how to lie down, which they did; and the gunboat 
sent a broadside at the rebels that mowed them down. The 
angle from the guns of the gunboat to the top of the bank 
at the distance we maintained from shore brought the heads 
of our men in line; hence the captain was frantic to get our 
men down. 

The remnants of nearly all the regiments had got 
abroad their respective crafts, except the 27th Illinois In¬ 
fantry. Its colonel, Buford, seeing he could not make it, 
made a detour into the interior around the rebels. We pro¬ 
ceeded slowly up the river and finally the fleet was hailed by 
the 27th several miles up and they were taken aboard their 
boat. Our trip up the river was a solemn one. Many wound¬ 
ed men were lying on the cabin floor and on the guards; 
those who were known to be dead on the field were tenderly 
spoken of, and those whom no one could account for were 
hoped for. Finally, supper was served. General Grant sat 
at the end of the table next to the ladies’ cabin. I occupied a 
seat the fourth from his on the left. All the officers were dis¬ 
coursing on the events of the day very glibly, but the Gen¬ 
eral said not a word further than to speak to xhe waiter. We 
thought he was hard-hearted, cold and indifferent, but it was 
only the difference between a real soldier and amateur sol¬ 
diers. Thus ended the Battle of Belmont. We knew not 
then what we went there for, but the General knew, and he 
saved Oglesby’s command and tested the mettle of the un¬ 
tried soldiers. Besides, the rebels never held a camp there 
afterwards or anywhere on that side of the river north of 
New Madrid. 

I will here quote from the "Memoirs” of U. S. Grant: 
"Our loss at Belmont was 485 in killed, wounded, and miss¬ 
ing. About 125 of our wounded fell into the hands of the 

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enemy. We returned with 175 prisoners and two guns, and 
spiked four others/* Pardon me for digressing here, but I 
wish to say to you, companions, I brought off one of these 
two guns. It was the one I had used in firing at the 
steamboat. 

Again quoting the “Memoirs” of Grant: “The enemy 
had about 7,000; but this includes the troops over from Col¬ 
umbus who were not engaged in the first defence of Belmont. 
The two objects for which the Battle of Belmont was fought 
were fully accomplished. The enemy gave up all idea of de¬ 
taching troops from Columbus. His losses 'were very heavy 
for that period of the war. Columbus was beset by people 
looking for their wounded or dead kin. I learned later, 
when I had moved farther south, that Belmont had caused 
more mourning than almost any other battle up to that time. 
The national troops acquired a confidence in themselves at 
Belmont that did not desert them through the war.” 

Before closing, I think it proper for the purpose of 
this paper to quote from Jefferson Davis’ “The Rise 
and Fall of the Confederate Government,” as follows: 
“On the 6th of November, General Grant left his head¬ 
quarters at Cairo with a land and naval force and en¬ 
camped on the Kentucky shore. This act and a demonstra¬ 
tion made by detachments from the force at Paducah were 
probably intended to induce the belief that he contemplated 
an attack on Columbus, thus concealing his real purpose to 
surprise the small garrison at Belmont. General Polk, on 
the morning of the 7th, discovered the landing of the Fed¬ 
eral forces on the Missouri shore, some seven miles above 
Columbus, and, divining the real purpose of the enemy, 
detached General Pillow with four regiments of his division, 
say 2,000 men, to reinforce the garrison at Belmont. Very 
soon after his arrival the enemy commenced an assault, 
which was sternly resisted, and with varying fortune for sev¬ 
eral hours. The enemy’s front so far exceeded the length 
of our line as to enable him to attack on both flanks, and 
our troops were finally driven back to the bank of the river 


14 - 


ivitli the loss of their battery. The enemy advanced to the 
bank of the river below the point to which our men had re¬ 
treated, and opened an artillery fire upon the town of Col¬ 
umbus, to which our guns from the commanding height re¬ 
sponded, with such effect as to drive him from the river- 
bank. In the meantime General Polk had at intervals sent 
three regiments to reinforce General Pillow. Upon the 
arrival of the first of these, General Pillow led it to a favora¬ 
ble position, where it for sometime steadily resisted and 
checked the advance of the enemy. General Pillow, with 
great energy and gallantry, rallied his repulsed troops and 
brought them again into action. General Polk now pro¬ 
ceeded in person with two other regiments. Whether from 
this or some other cause, the enemy commenced a retreat. 
General Pillow, whose activity and daring on the occasion 
were worthy of all praise, led the first and second detach¬ 
ments by which he had been reinforced to attack the en¬ 
emy in the rear, and General Polk, landing further up the 
river, moved to cut off the enemy’s retreat; but some em¬ 
barrassment and consequent delay which occurred in land¬ 
ing his troops caused him to be too late for the purpose for 
which he crossed, and to become only a part of the pursu¬ 
ing force. One would naturally suppose that the question 
about which there would be the greatest certainty would 
be the number of troops engaged in a battle, yet there is 
nothing in regard to which we have such conflicting accounts. 
It is fairly concluded, from the current reports, that the 
enemy attacked us on both flanks, and that in the beginning 
of the action we were outnumbered; but the obstinacy with 
which the conflict was maintained and the successive ad¬ 
vances and retreats which occurred in the action indicate 
that the disparity could not have been very great, and there¬ 
fore that, after the arrival of our reinforcements, our troops 
must have become numerically superior. The dead and 
wounded left upon the field, the arms, ammunition, and mil¬ 
itary stores abandoned in his flight, so incontestably prove 
his defeat, that his claim to have achieved a victory is too 


- 15 - 


preposterous for discussion. Though the forces engaged 
were comparatively small to those in subsequent battles of 
the war, six hours of incessant combat, with repeated bay¬ 
onet charges, must place this in the rank of the most stub¬ 
born engagements, and the victors must accord to the van¬ 
quished the meed of having fought like Americans. Our loss 
in killed, wounded and missing was six hundred and forty- 
one; that of the enemy was probably not less than twelve 
hundred.” 

Before closing, I will say we did not come back to the 
same tree, so did not recover our coats we discarded in the 
morning. My own was a new one that I had bought in 
Cairo a few days before. Our guns were of those known 
as the Harper’s Ferry flint-lock musket, altered to percus¬ 
sion caps, and the ammunition being cartridges that must be 
torn open with one’s teeth, inserted in the muzzle of the 
musket and rammed home. The cartridge contained with 
the powder one lead ball and four buckshot. With cart¬ 
ridge-biting, the faces of the men soon looked as though 
they might be coal-miners. 

The impressions of the Battle of Belmont are still 
clear and vivid within my mind after the lapse of many years 
devoted to peaceful pursuits. Whatever its place in history, 
a young man’s first battle must be to him the greatest event 
of his life, and as such have 1 remembered the battle I have 
attempted to describe—the Battle of Belmont. 

I have framed and hung on the walls of my residence 
at Atchison, “Special Orders” from General Grant, of date 
December 21, 1861, read on dress parade, complimenting me 
for “the valuable services rendered at the Battle of Bel¬ 
mont” by me. 1 intended to bring the same here to show 
you to-night, but forgot it. 


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